Originally Posted by Lindenwood

Okay, I'm dumb. Not paying attention, I never actually stopped to think that my cassette is only an x8, so I'd be going 1x8 rather than 1x9 . Also, I was thinking it had a 34t large cog, but it is only 32. So, going with the HG61 would actually give me about a 12.5% increase in available torque while still giving me more speed than I need with the 12t small cog (which is still two gears lower than I've ever needed so far ).

BTW, would all nine cogs of the HG61 fit on my hub? Or would I have to remove one of the gears? Even with that and going to a 30t front, it would only take running one gear lower to get the same equivalent speed once I get a few cogs down into the cassette (basically 5th would = previous 4th, etc). So, I could still be very happy with the HG61 and even a 30t front I think, but if I went with that front I would probably keep all 8 rather than go down to ~6 gears. Not enough difference to justify the hassle, heh.